A member of the National Youth Service Corps serving in Bayelsa State, Omotola Olusile, has carried out an outreach for 71 widows in Ovom community in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
At the event, under the auspices of her project christened, ‘New year for widows’, Olusile donated wrappers, food stuff such as rice and garri, tomatoes, salt, among others to the beneficiaries.
The widows also benefited from free medical check-up and sensitisation/health talk on diabetes, high blood pressure and blood sugar and other issues peculiar to them and their age.
Olusile, who is carrying out her national primary assignment at the state Ministry of Education, was supported by some of her NYSC colleagues in the medical and health professions.
The corps member said the initiative was her modest contribution towards improving the welfare of widows in the society, adding that she embarked on the project after a careful study of the situation of widows in the community.
Olusile, an indigene of Ogun State, described widows as members of the society who suffer the deaths of their spouses and are also exposed to mental and physical health illnesses like depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes, among others.
She said, “Widowhood is among the most stressful of all life events and requires more psychological and behavioural adjustment than any other life transition.
“The goal of the project is to empower the widows in the community with some of life’s basic amenities, create a healthy environment for them to support each other through this period of their lives, celebrate their strength and encourage them to keep pushing for the coming years ahead, teach them how to take care of their all-round wellbeing.
“We conduct high blood pressure and blood sugar tests on them to give them personalised recommendations to keep themselves at their best always.”
Speaking on behalf of the community and the widows, the chairman of Ovom Community Development Committee, Ibesemiye Silver, thanked Olusile for her kindness and prayed to God to bless her in her endeavours.
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